A CONTROVERSIAL press release issued by Stratford District Council, which claimed a taxi driver was probably guilty of a sexual assault, has been taken down from the authority’s website and social media pages following a complaint.
The release met with outrage on social media from users who accused the council of “victimisation” and acting as judge and jury after naming the driver and stating “on the balance of probabilities” he “had carried out the alleged sexual assault and that he was no longer a fit and proper person to hold a licence”.
The authority did this despite police saying there was not enough evidence to prosecute.
The press release was issued on Tuesday April 2 after the driver failed in an appeal to get his licence back after magistrates in Nuneaton upheld the council’s original decision.
The Observer decided not to name the driver as he had not faced any criminal charges.
Shortly after the Observer’s deadline on Thursday April 4, the council issued a short statement following an unspecified complaint regarding the press release.
It read: “Following receipt of a complaint, in the interests of expediency the district council has removed news release ref 02/2019 dated 4 April from the website and other platforms.”
At the appeal hearing the driver was given three weeks to again appeal the council’s decision to crown court over the revoking of his licence to work as a taxi driver. Magistrates also awarded costs to the district council.
